Chandigarh’s Kala Gram to be modelled after Dilli Haat

Chandigarh, Aug 24 (IANS) New Delhi’s Dilli Haat, a replica of a village marketplace where artisans display and sell their wares directly to customers, is going to be an inspiration for Chandigarh’s Kala Gram that houses India’s biggest sculpture park.”We are developing one part of the Kala Gram on the lines of Dilli Haat. We will construct around 70-80 shops. These shops will be given on very nominal charges to artists, artisans and painters to showcase and sell their creations,” R.T. Jindal director of north zone cultural centre (NZCC), told IANS.

“Our aim is to recognize, preserve and to spread our rich traditional arts and crafts of the region, and to generate financial support to artisans and craftsmen. By allotting them shops, we will remove the middlemen between them and their customers,” said Jindal.

We will also provide accommodation and food to the artisans coming from other states at economical prices, he said.

“Basic aim of Kala Gram is to popularize our dying area-specific crafts, artefacts, handicrafts, handlooms, and to promote traditional culture through folk songs and dances. We will make Kala Gram the cultural hub of North India. This will also promote tourism in the region and thereby adding to the revenues of administration,” said Jindal.

It was allotted land in 1995 and was inaugurated in 2000. It has been set up collectively by the Chandigarh administration and NZCC, which has its head office in Punjab’s Patiala city and its sub office here.

Kala Gram also has the India’s biggest sculpture park, an open-air theatre and a hostel for the artists coming from outside the city.

“There is the India’s biggest sculpture park with over 200 sculptures on display. There are sculptures made of wood, stones, metals, ceramics and terra cotta, based on different themes. We invite sculptors from different states of the country and conduct workshops in sculpture making,” said Yashwinder Sharma, programme officer, Kala Gram.

“The first phase of Kala Gram’s planning has been completed and now we have entered the second phase of our planning. In the second phase, we have plans to build an indoor auditorium, air-conditioned market, arrangements of open craft stalls and classrooms for slum kids. We have got approval on all these and are now working on these concepts,” he said.

Kala Gram has tie-ups with various cultural academies in various states and artists from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir come here to perform on regular basis.

“There is an impetus on the promotion of folk dances and folk art. We also take our teams to other places to perform and put emphasis on the healthy exchange of art and culture with different states,” said Sharma.